Strategy: Proposing to the Cherry Blossom
by epAmy
Summary: Shikamaru has got the ring, now he's just got to figure out how to propose to her. Too bad Sakura never follows his strategies. One-shot.


**A/N:** Wow, as I was logging in, I realized it had been probably almost a whole year since I've logged in! Sorry it's taken so long for me! I've had one rough year, but I'm ready to get back to writing! Here's a little story for you guys (sorry HP fans, I'm in the middle of working on a couple of those now). I don't remember how I thought of this one, but I decided to finish it anyway.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto characters in any way, shape, or form.

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><p>Not all things can be planned. This is what Shikamaru Nara found out the hard way.<p>

It all started on a normal Friday; former team 10 had met for their usual practice time. Everything went as it usually did, until the end, when the peaceful silence of the training field was suddenly interrupted by one, Ino Yamanaka. "Is _that_ what I think it is?" she screeched.

Shikamaru and his team leader, Asuma Sarutobi, winced, while the last teammate, Choji Akimichi slapped his hands over his ears.

"It _is_!" Ino exclaimed as she pounced on the small box that had fallen out of Shikamaru's pocket.

"What are you talking about?" Choji asked.

Shikamaru ignored is friend and leapt for the box in Ino's hands, "Give that back," he growled. His teammates were stunned, partly at his gruff tone and for the fact that they'd never seen the lazy Nara voluntarily move so fast before.

Ino ducked Shikamaru's grabby hands and danced away from him as she opened the box. The sun glinted off of the diamond ring, allowing all of the team to see what was inside.

Asuma's mouth dropped and his cigarette fell to the ground. "Is that what I think it is?"

While Ino was frozen, staring at the ring, Shikamaru snatched it back out of her hands. "Yes, alright? It is what you all think it is. Troublesome woman," Shikamaru mumbled about his blond teammate.

"You're going to ask Forehead to marry you?" Ino asked softly.

Shikamaru looked at her with a smirk on his face and nodded.

Now don't feel so surprised. This lazy Nara wasn't planning on asking the cherry blossom to be his wife out of the blue. He and Sakura Haruno had been dating for some time; three years, to be precise. After Shikamaru had turned 18, his mother had started hinting how he needed to find a nice woman to settle down with. The hidden leaf village was finally at peace, for the time being, and because he was the heir to the Nara clan, he needed to keep the family line going. For a while, Shikamaru ignored his mother. He wasn't ready to have kids; he still felt like a kid half the time.

Then he started seeing the pink cherry blossom in a different light. It started on a mission with her. It should have been a routine mission; he was prepared for every different possible scenario. He hadn't counted on Sakura letting her Inner self get to her and go charging toward the enemy recklessly. While he was covering for her, he was hit in his lower-side with a kunai. They had managed to finish off the rouge ninja, but Shikamaru had needed healing before they could return to the hidden leaf village. This was where his attraction to the kunoichi began. Sure, Sakura had healed him before, but he couldn't explain the odd feelings as she ran her fingers over the wound in his side. He blamed the light streaming through the trees that shone on her odd-colored hair or something of that sort. When she looked up at him with a smile of relief that he wasn't badly injured there was something tugging at him. After that mission the only way Shikamaru could think of seeing her again was to run into her at the hospital. But he didn't want to just show up (he couldn't just _tell_ her he was interested, now could he?) so he purposefully became injured so he'd have an excuse to see her.

It only took a handful of visits when Sakura bluntly asked, "Okay, Shikamaru. What's going on?"

He looked up in surprise, "What?"

Sakura huffed and put her hands on her hips. "You know what I'm talking about. It's rare enough for you to get injured on missions and even then someone has to drag you to the hospital. Now you're coming in almost every day with small scrapes and cuts that is a waste of my time to heal." Shikamaru winced. _I guess coming in every day was a bit of a give-away._ "Also, the receptionist said you always request me when you come in."

Shikamaru shrugged. "Maybe I trust you."

Sakura leaned in. "Do you like me?"

Shikamaru's eyes widened even more and a tattling blush crept on his cheeks. "Was I that obvious?"

Sakura smiled. "Only because I know you well enough," she turned and started organizing her medical utensils.

Shikamaru fidgeted uncomfortably. "So…"

"Stop being so lazy and ask me out on a real date and I'll say yes," she said offhanded.

He smirked at her bluntness. "Tonight at seven? There's that new club opening—"

"A club? I never pictured you as a clubber. More of a ramen shop," she said.

He scratched the back of his neck. "I was trying to make a good impression."

Sakura laughed. "I'm not much of a clubber either."

"So, ramen?" he asked uncertain.

"Perfect. I'll see you tonight," she said with a smile.

Shikamaru hopped off the examination table and started to leave when she spoke once more, this time with a much darker tone, "Oh, and Shikamaru? Don't _ever_ waste my time at the hospital with your bumps and bruises again. Got it?" She smiled sweetly, but Shikamaru could see the fakeness.

"Troublesome woman," he muttered as he left.

He should have known to "run for the hills" at this point, but he was too lazy to run that far, let alone fight off his growing attraction. She was everything his father had warned him about: a wild firecracker who won't hesitate to boss you around. But, his dad seemed happy, even if he complained about his wife's behavior often.

They often had dinner together, either ramen or at other low-key restaurants. They would also go out with their group of friends (who were all quite surprised by the development). They would always sit next to each other, but as the weeks and months progressed the space between them disappeared and they would always be seen touching; hands entwined or touching the other's arm, knee, back. These connections were usually instigated by Sakura, but it was a few times that Shikamaru had his arm draped casually behind her back.

So now after nearly three years of dating (and mother's nagging) Shikamaru realized he had found the woman he wanted to 'settle down with.' Sakura invaded his home on the Nara compound most of the time anyway. He told himself he was so used to Sakura at his side that this just secured her presence at his side for the rest of their lives (that and the added bonus that his mother would stop nagging).

"How are you going to propose?" Ino broke into his trip down memory lane.

"Tonight during dinner," Shikamaru answered.

"Excellent!" Ino exclaimed. "Where are you going? Somewhere romantic?"

"Um, we're just having take-out at my home."

"What!" Ino screeched again, causing her teammates to cover their ears again. "You can't do that!"

Asuma came up and put his hand on Shikamaru's head, like he often did when his students were still genin. It didn't matter to him if Shikamaru was taller than him. "Shikamaru, there's something you need to understand about women."

"Like you'd know what we like," Ino snorted. "How many times have you been kicked out of your apartment this week?" It was well known Asuma was often kicked out of the apartment he shared with Kurenai and their child. He either faced an angry, kunai-wielding woman or reduced to finding somewhere to sleep for the night.

Asuma laughed heartily, "Only twice!" he said proudly, holding up two fingers. "Anyway, Shikamaru, you need to make some sort of grand gesture."

"Eh?" Shikamaru gave him a confused look. "I don't think Sakura's like that. She's the one who insisted we go to the ramen stand for our first date."

"No, listen to me Shikamaru," Ino said, pushing Asuma aside. "I've known Sakura since forever and I know what she likes. You need to take her out to a nice restaurant and do something romantic. Maybe put the ring in her dessert or something? It's cliché, but Sakura likes that kind of thing. She may insist on these small dates now, but she'll look back on your proposal and appreciate the big gesture. Trust me."

Shikamaru looked to Asuma, who nodded, then to Choji, who shrugged. "She'd probably like the good food," he said (not realizing not everyone loves food as much as he does). Realizing his simple unplanned proposal was not going to work, he sighed. "How troublesome." Now he had to _plan_ out a proposal. Somehow, he didn't think it was going to go very well.

...

Shikamaru tugged at his collar for the tenth time since stepping into the restaurant. He'd had to go on three B-rank missions to pay for their meal here. _This better be worth it_, he thought bitterly. Realizing his palms were covered in sweat, he wiped them on his pants pocket. "Shika, are you alright?" Sakura's voice asked him softly. She seemed slightly excited about being in the fancy restaurant, despite her protests of coming. _Maybe Ino was right after all_.

"I'm fine. These fancy places make me a little nervous," he admitted.

Sakura gave him a look. "Why did you insist we come then? I told you I didn't want to come here."

Shikamaru took her hand in his and smirked, "I need to spoil you every once and a while or you'll run off with someone like Sai or something."

Sakura glared at him and squeezed his hand a little too tight. "As if."

They were soon escorted to their table due to Shikamaru reserving a table earlier in the week. He seated Sakura (Ino had drilled it into his head to seat her first) before taking his own seat. They enjoyed a wonderful meal. Shikamaru found he really liked hearing the noises and faces Sakura made for every new food. After they'd finished, Sakura excused herself to use the bathroom. While she was gone, Shikamaru signaled over the waiter and explained his plans to propose. He asked him to put the ring in the chocolate dessert and have it delivered to their table after Sakura returned.

Shikamaru began to get antsy when Sakura didn't return. _How long does it take to use the restroom?_ He thought. A commotion behind him drew his attention and he turned to see what it was. There was a couple at a table and the man looked completely stunned. The noise was coming from the woman who was screaming, but was obviously happy as she held a ring in her hand. Shikamaru's eyes widened when he noticed it was _his_ ring—er, Sakura's ring. To make matters worse, Sakura chose that time to come back from the restroom. Her eyes were glued to the noisy woman and she smiled faintly when she saw the ring in her hand. She took her seat again as Shikamaru managed to control his expression. "Ready to go?" she asked.

Shikamaru scowled to himself as he stood, "I'll go get pay the bill." _And figure out what happened_.

...

The next morning, Shikamaru had another training session with his former team 10. The first thing Ino asked when she saw him was, "How'd it go?"

Shikamaru glared at her. "It didn't _go_. I did everything you told me to: go to a fancy restaurant and get the waiter to put the ring in her favorite dessert."

"What went wrong then?" Choji asked.

"The waiter gave the dessert to another couple _accidentally_. By the time I noticed Sakura had already seen it and was ready to go. I had to sneak away to get the ring back from the couple—who I can assume are having a very awkward day today."

His friend's faces froze before they started laughing. Shikamaru glared at his friends and walked away, cursing them under his breath.

He wasn't going to give up that easy. He had a couple other ideas. These ones he didn't have to rely on shoddy waiters who couldn't follow simple requests. The first thing he did was toss out Ino's suggestion of going somewhere fancy. He and Sakura's dates had never been anything grand. They were all simple and cozy either at one of their apartments or at one of the food stands around Konoha.

His first plan was to ask her one night when they were having dinner at her house. That idea went out the window when Sakura was tense from work and in a rotten mood. Shikamaru knew to keep his distance when she was in one of her moods.

His next plan was to ask her when they had one of their sparring sessions together, alone. However he was so distracted by what he wanted to ask her, his guard was down and she landed a nasty punch against the side of his head. He had trouble remembering what day it was, let alone any special question he was going to ask the pretty blossom.

One of his simpler plans was to ask her while they were watching the clouds together. Sakura had taken to joining him while he watched the clouds. She didn't really understand his fascination with them, but she liked the down time of being able to relax. This time, he'd actually gotten to getting the ring out and had started to ask her when he heard a soft snore next to him. His head had fallen back with a 'thump.' _She can't even stay awake for me to propose to her_, he thought sadly.

One after another, all of Shikamaru's plans failed miserably. To add to his frustration (he was really just about ready to shove the stupid ring on her finger and drag her off to get it all done at once) his friends and co-workers who knew of his plans were digging into him. _'Aren't you supposed to be one of our best strategists?' _Of course he was trying to use his strategist skills in this area, but there is one changing variable he couldn't predict—Sakura! He couldn't plan out the proposal when she kept being so unpredictable!

However, now he had the ultimate plan. There was a 100% chance of success (success in the fact that he actually _asks _her to marry him). However, there was a 99.7% chance it was going to backfire on him. Shikamaru was willing to take whatever repercussions it would cost him. He would be able to call Sakura his fiancé before the night was over.

...

"Just do it," Shikamaru said darkly.

Choji fidgeted uncomfortably. "I don't know about this. What if she finds out? I don't want to face Sakura's wrath."

"I'll make sure she doesn't come after you, now _do it!_" he hissed.

Choji seriously doubted Shikamaru had any power over Sakura, but he was desperate to help his friend. Summoning his courage, he went through the hand signals to transform into his Multi-Sized form. Then he gave Shikamaru one last regretful look before aiming and charging at his best friend with his human bullet tank taijutsu.

Shikamaru only flinched slightly as he forced his feet to remain planted where they were. _This is all part of the plan_, he told himself. However once Choji ran him over and he couldn't tell which way was up, he regretted his course of action.

"Shikamaru?" Choji's voice echoed in his ears. "Are you alright?"

Mumbling slightly, Shikamaru said, "Just take me to the hospital."

So here he was, back where it all began; where he'd asked Sakura out on their first date. Of course, he was barely conscious now, but he figured that was because of the giant goose-egg on his forehead. "Choji, I'll never doubt your abilities again," he mumbled as Choji half-dragged Shikamaru to a patient's room. On the way they ran into Sakura, who had obviously heard her boyfriend had come in pretty mashed up.

She came around the corner quickly and sighed in relief when she saw Shikamaru grinning foolishly at his friend. "What happened?" she asked.

"Uh," Choji started dumbly, "we were sparring and he didn't get out of the way…quickly enough." Sakura glared at the two and Choji all but dropped his friend as he quickly backed away. This was why he didn't want any part of this plan—he knew Sakura would kill him!

Sakura managed to catch her boyfriend before he completely fell over. "Some best friend you have there," she muttered as she helped him into a room. Once she got him on the bed, she turned to close the door. When she turned back, she gasped. Shikamaru held a diamond ring between his fingers as he stared at her (only slightly dazed).

"Marry me." It didn't matter that he had a broken nose, a throbbing head, and that he was currently seeing two Sakuras.

Sakura stared shocked at the ring for a whole breath before she launched herself on him screaming, "Yes!"

Shikamaru caught her painfully, but elated as he now had his cherry blossom for good. Inside, he was laughing. He was correct in finally asking her to marry him. However, it seemed she chose to be part of that 0.3% because he had fully expected her to yell at him for taking up her hospital work time.

Sakura pulled back. "Wait, did you purposefully get hurt to ask me?" Shikamaru froze long enough to clarify her suspicions. "Shikamaru Nara, you are in so much trouble! Didn't I tell you to never interrupt my time at the hospital!"

Then again, maybe Shikamaru was getting better at predicting her actions than he thought. He had a lifetime to figure out how to strategize when it came to his cherry blossom.

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><p><strong>AN:** Thanks for reading! Keep a look out for more stories in the future!

Hope all is well! :)


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